MOUNT VERNON — Central Ohio Technical College is redesigning its Business Associate degree curriculum, and local business leaders were involved in the process.
The process is an intensive process designed to give students the education and training needed to fullfill the needs of businesses in the community. A panel of six business leaders from Licking and Knox counties recently met to design a format of essential skills, training and education needed in the field of business. Among the six, two local business leaders were involved — Marc Hawk, president of ECR, and Terry Scott, Mount Vernon City auditor.
DACUM, an acronym for developing a curriculum, is the procedure being used by The Ohio State University Center on Education and Training for Employment. The process involves designing a curriculum based on what is required from a job or particular position, said Raymond Irwin, director of new programs at COTC.
“We have been thinking about redesigning the general business curriculum for a while,” said Irwin. “So we went through this process with a couple of members from the Mount Vernon community, and the other four were from Licking County.”
Irwin said he doesn’t know what the new curriculum will look like until all of the steps involved in the DACUM are complete; there is no definite date to when the curriculum will be instituted. The biggest part is structuring the course work around the new curriculum. The new curriculum has to be taken through the faculty and a curriculum committee, with several drafts before it is finalized.
“The DACUM is a much more focused and concentrated process,” he said.
“I understand that this is exactly what most colleges use as a format when they are designing a curriculum,” said Scott.
Basically, he explained, the panel wrote a job description.
“If you were going into the work force we put together what would be a job description for a business professional,” he said.
Scott said the panel’s responsibility involved establishing key elements that are a part of the business field, such as creating a business plan, business finances, marketing, capital asset, research and development, customer service, community partnership and human resources. Each aspect of business that was outlined by the panel was described in detail, from its function to the task objective.
“Since we serve a three-county area, we rely a lot on people who do the work locally to know exactly what this region needs,” said Irwin.
“What’s really great about what they’re doing is they are coming to businesses first and starting with what are the needs of businesses, and then developing a curriculum from the perspective of what businesses are looking for,” said Hawk.
“The program was structured to come as a result of those people working in the business fields. They wanted a panel of experts in various levels of the business field because they felt that the people in that environment were the best people to help design a curriculum that students at the college could take and when they finished their two-year degree, they would have the skills in education to fit into a position as to what we designed for them,” said Scott.
The panel met for two days in what is considered a “think tank” to design a format for a curriculum.
“It was a very challenging couple of days, to really work through all of the different areas that this person might cover in their curriculum. The process attempts to ensure that the curriculum is relevant, and that their students are relevant to the business and work force,” said Hawk.
He understands there are benefits to having a panel that can direct educational tools for students to learn.
“I believe that the development of the work force in Knox County is critical for us to continue to grow and have success in business in Knox County,” he said. “Because without trained workers in a changing economy we are going to fall behind.
“So this curriculum development is a big task because it requires both meeting business needs as well as making sure what you are offering is acceptable to the four-year universities that are in our communities.”
“What we are hoping [is that] the students should be able to, once they complete their two-year degree, have the skills and education that would be necessary in order to go out into the business field and get a job in this area,” said Scott. “This particular job is not going to be your high-level management, but you are going to be above your basic entry level position. You are going to have enough skills, education and background to know major elements of what it takes to run a business.”
Having three educational institutions like COTC, Kenyon College and Mount Vernon Nazarene University, as well as the Knox County Career Center, in the area is a benefit to local businesses.
“Nothing is more challenging and difficult as a business, than to hire people who don’t have the skills you are looking for,” Hawk said. “It is a great benefit to both the students and businesses if they can come in prepared rather than having to teach them certain technologies and applications that businesses all typically use.”
Businesses not only benefit from a partnership with the schools; the students also gain the skills needed to be prepared for the work force.
“It is definitely a win-win relationship,” said Hawk. “The school puts out graduates that are employable and businesses get a quick return on the investment they made in education. Businesses are able to grow and have a ready-made work force to stay in the community. It is great to have a pool of applicants that fit and that are well trained.”
